About the measure
Subject
Literacy
Education Endowment Foundation: National Test-style Standardised Assessment (NTS Assessment) Reading
Assessment screening
Subscalesⓘ
Reading
Publisher
RS Assessment from Hodder Education
Test source
https://www.risingstars-uk.com/subjects/assessment/nts-assessments
Guidelines available?ⓘ
Yes
Norm-referenced scores
Yes
Age rangeⓘ
5 – 11 years
Key Stage
Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2
UK standardisation sample
Yes
Publication date
2019
Re-norming date
N/a
Eligibility
Validity measures available?
Yes
Reliability measures available?
Yes
note whether shortlisted, and reasons why not if relevant
Shortlisted
Administration format
Additional information about what the test measures
Reading comprehension (spelling and grammar for Year 1 only).
Are additional versions available?
There are different test papers for each term between Year 1 and Year 6 — so 18 papers.
Can subtests be administered in isolation?
N/a
Administration Group Size
Small group, Whole class
Administration duration
Varies depending year group and term, but approx 40 mins for autumn tests, 50 mins for spring tests and 60 mins for summer tests.
Description of materials needed to administer test
Pencil and paper, answer books and reading papers.
Any special testing conditions?
The tests are ideally presented in mid-November, mid-March and mid-June. The autumn and spring tests are shorter, while the summer test mimics a full SATs paper, but based on content for that year group.
Response format
Response mode
Paper and Pencil
Question format
Mixed
Progress through questions
Flat
Assessor requirements
Is any prior knowledge/training/profession accreditation required for administration?
No
Is administration scripted?
N/a
Assessor requirements
Description of materials needed to score test
Scoring can be done using the test guidance manual or online.
Types and range of available scores
Age standardised score (70 – 130), standardised score (70 – 130), scales score correlations, performance indicators, reading age equivalent score (4;4 – 12;7), NTS scale.
Score transformation for standard score
Age standardised — in comparison to others the same age in that year group; standardised — in comparison to others in that year group.
Age bands used for norming
1 month
Scoring procedures
Simple manual scoring — clerical skills required.
Automatised norming
Bureau service
Construct Validity
Rating Construct
Does it reflect the multidimensionality of the subject?
Generic literacy
Construct validity comments (and reference for source)
Face validity is high — the mapping from national curriculum content is very detailed and clear in the Reading Key Stages 1 and 2 Test Guidance. The tests are developed to closely mimic the SATs tests. However, construct validity is not measured statistically.
Criterion Validity
Rating Criterion
Summarise available comparisons
The publishers have calculated the prediction from scores on the test to SATs scores in the same school year and use this to provide predicted SATs scores. However, the Reading Key Stages 1 and 2 Test Guidance does not detail how closely the two factors correlate.
Reliability
Rating Reliability
Summarise available comparisons
Internal consistency is good-excellent; Cronbachs alpha and SEM is reported for each test paper (p61 of the test guidance). Values range between .83 and .91 . SEM is also reported for each test paper, and ranges from 2.2 to 3.3. The tests therefore show good reliability (excellent, for reading comprehension!). Temporal stability and equivalence reliability are not presented.
Is the norm-derived population appropriate and free from bias?
Does the standardisation sample represent the target/general population well?
If any biases are noted in sampling, these will be indicated here.
Large representative sample. Good range of information to confirm that the schools used were varied and representative of English schools as a whole. Overall measures of disadvantage and attainment for the schools reflected English averages.
Sources
Sources
Barnes, M., Wilkinson, S., Skeffington, S., & Lallaway, M. (2020). National Test-style Standardised Assessments: Reading. Key Stages 1 & 2 Test Guidance. London, UK: RS Assessment from Hodder Education.